School board sends message on poverty

There are about 30,000 Hamiltonians who go to work each day but still live below the poverty line.

Tom Cooper wants to change that — and he now has the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board on his side.

The school board looks set to become the first Ontario board to adopt a “living wage” policy which would see all its employees earn at least $14.95 an hour.

It will mostly be a symbolic move for the board but it’s a very welcome change, said Cooper, director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction.

“It shows leadership and it sets an example,” said Cooper, after the proposal was unanimously approved by the school board’s committee of the whole this week. “We are very pleased. Living wage is good for people and for the community.”

Encouraging private and public employers to adopt a living wage has been an ongoing project that began two years ago and the efforts are now paying off, Cooper said.

“There are other small businesses in Hamilton that have adopted the policy,” Cooper added. “It sends a very strong signal that work is a route out of poverty.”

Trustee Alex Johnstone said she has been “on board” with the living wage policy “for many years.”

She said existing board employees all earn more than $14.95, but she still felt it was important to set an example for other employers.

“Here in Hamilton, poverty is one of the greatest challenges our school board faces,” said Johnstone.

“If parents are working full-time and still living in poverty, there’s something very wrong,” added Johnstone, who represents wards 11 and 12. “It’s a problem our whole city needs to be working toward.”

Johnstone said a living wage is the key to eliminating poverty because a McMaster University study showed one-third of children living in poverty have a parent working full-time.

Cooper will now follow up with other large public sector employers such as McMaster University, Mohawk College and the Catholic School Board.

Communities from around Ontario are demanding an immediate minimum wage increase. Blocks of ice with frozen $10 bills will be delivered to the Ministry of Labour and MPPs in more than 12 cities, including Hamilton.

Ontario’s minimum wage has been frozen for three years, while the cost of living continues to rise. The Campaign to Raise the Minimum Wage says the minimum wage should bring workers and their families above the poverty line. That means Ontario’s minimum wage should be $14 in 2013.

Date: Thursday, March 21 at noon

Location: Ministry of Labour office, 400 University Ave., Toronto

What: Rally, with a mountain of ice on the doorsteps of the Ministry of Labour.